


Traveling the Arcway

by rinskiroo



Series: Dragonslayers [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Pining, Saving the Day, Time Travel, adventure summary, adventurer's journal, an honorable knight, evil cat wizard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 14:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16935069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinskiroo/pseuds/rinskiroo
Summary: Sir Ian Borsk, fourth of his name, went adventuring with a motley group of fellows.  These are the records of some of his early campaigns.





	1. Fangs of Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Oh wow something that's not Star Wars! These are short ficlets from my dnd campaign. I don't really expect anyone to read them, but I wrote them and thought they should be included in my body of work. :)

**[Borsk’s official report]**

•Escort pilgrims to monastery [✓]

•Solved dead noble girl’s murder [✓]

•Rid monastery of evil [✓]

•Saved pilgrims from being murdered [✓] (most of them)

•Saved shade wrongly accused of noble girl’s murder [  ]

* * *

 

**[Borsk’s private journal entry]**

Escorting Pilgrims (and also crazy cult shit)

The mission was simple enough: take some pilgrims up to the monastery so they can pray, or whatever, make sure they don’t get murdered by brigands or assaulted by wildlife.  Easy.  My companions seem to be a friendly sort, even the demon-ish looking ones.  The bard’s songs are quite clever.  And the elf cleric… she seems nice.

As we stopped to rest, we were set upon by a pair of wyverns.  The creatures were easily dispatched with no harm coming to our charges.  The rest of the journey passed without incident and we arrived at the monastery.

Once we were at the temple, I admit I lost my focus.  With our objective complete, I was more interested in finding a place to eat and rest.  I didn’t pay much attention as we were led through the monastery by one of their acolytes and shown some sick old man.  Poor sod.  And a dead noble woman.  Poor girl.  This case is curious, especially since no one can seem to figure out how she died or who killed her.  Some say a shade, or a siren, or a ghost?  If I know my young noble women (and I do), she probably had an illicit lover.

I was right.

My companions seem to be better at collecting information than I am.  To be honest, just point me at the direction of the trouble and my axe can handle it.  I’m not one for puzzles or problem solving.  I’m not sure the spoiled milk or moldy cheese helps us in our mission, though.  My companions, I’ve decided, are disgusting.  There’s a perfectly good tavern in this town, _I can smell it._  And they’re eating things that literally make you vomit.

Then we went to the magic shop where my companions started just throwing gold at this old cranky old woman.   ~~If you’re just going to be throwing gold around, I could really use some new armor.~~  I’m not sure anything was gained at this stop.

FINALLY we went to the tavern.  I’m so hungry, I could eat my shield.

Unfortunately, my meal was interrupted by prodding by my companions to go and talk to a shady looking mercenary in the corner.  Man is probably just trying to enjoy his meal in peace.  (And by that, I mean me.)  After talking to this Drask fellow, I got the impression he knew the dead noble girl, Lena.  Turns out _he’s_ the illicit lover.  (Noble girl really slumming it.  Typical.)  Anyway, we arm wrestled, I can’t even remember why at this point--but the winner got to kiss Valis, the pretty and kind elf cleric, and there was no way I was letting this guy put his hands on her.

That was quite nice.  The kissing, not the arm wrestling.

Drask didn’t seem to be having a good time and left.  We decided to follow him to ascertain if he knew anything else about Laura’s death, but we were set upon by some foul cow creatures.  These were also easily dispatched.

Once we caught up to Drask, we discovered he had a picnic set up for Lyra.  I had to be the bearer of unfortunate news and tell him of his beloved’s death.  He was beside himself with grief and it was clear he had no hand in her murder.

Also, at some point Yora fucked off and this child appeared along with another soldier.  They apparently were sent to assist.  Our employers don’t seem to be showing a lot of confidence, something I’m sure we will rectify once the killer is brought to justice.

A shade approached us in the graveyard and insisted that he was not at fault.  He had found two more bodies buried in the forest, both with red origami roses.  At this point, we returned to the inn because there were far too many suspects.  The only thing we were sure of was it was not the shade.  He was terrified of what people would do to him, and he was right to be.  However, his safety was not my primary concern.  There were likely other young women in danger now that more bodies had turned up.

Perhaps telling Drask we suspected a shade was not the best course of action, but it was the information that I had at the time.  But again, Drask’s misplaced vengeance could not be my concern when there were innocent people in danger.  We began to suspect something unholy was afoot in the monastery.

We were right.

As any great battle I have been in, this was one of the fiercest.  Our enemies were unholy and foul, cursed beasts of undeath.  Creatures we had seen as friends in town twisted and became monsters that can claw at you and suck the very life from your blood.  I admit that I was frightened and found myself stuck in place, but I had to be strong for my friends.

Especially Valis.  I don’t want her to get hurt.

Though I have seen young squires ride off into war beside their Knights, children do not belong in battle.  I hope the realm remembers young Ven, whose punches were fierce for such a small person, but whose life was ended far too soon.

It was slow going, cutting down the abominations, their thralls, and the shadows.  Finally, only one was left standing, but we were all dropping quickly.  Periwinkle, our fresh soldier, took several blows that would kill a normal man, but brushed them off as they were nothing.  Amelody, our clever bard, met the same fate as young Ven.  Puzzle also brushed death several times, but was saved by the healing spells of our companions.  We dealt many blows against the monster, but it kept sucking the life from us and healing itself.  Truly a terrible beast.

I am not sure that I have ever seen a sight as beautiful and wondrous as when Valis slew the beast.

Valis, hair of gold, skin of ivory, soul as pure as fresh snow.  She reached out a gentle hand and I felt as if the sun herself had come into this dark room and put the light into her palm.  It was so bright, I could barely see, but I could not avert my eyes.  She is the sun, and I am a flower turning to her warmth.

At the death of the final monster, the calamity afflicting the monastery was lifted.  The monks came out from under their spell.  We managed to save most of the poor pilgrims we had escorted, though I mourn for those of whom we did not.  Valis did two more awe-inspiring acts: she revived the old man we had first seen when we arrived, restoring him from his crippled state and returning his youth.  She also saved Amelody, whom I was sure was destined for the funeral pyre.  Such magic and strength and skill.  It is an honor just to be able to be counted among her company.

Should fair Valis ever venture out again, she will always have my shield.  I consider it my sworn duty to protect such an angel.


	2. Magic Mishap

**[Borsk’s official report]**

•Wizard: Alive

•Apprentice: Possessed

•Demon: Slain

•Day: Saved

* * *

 

**[Borsk’s private journal entry]**

Checking up on the (likely evil) wizard 

Adventuring, I’ve found, is a series of morally repugnant choices fighting against the stagnancy of town life and the need for coin.  I suppose I never really thought about the cost of armor, the upkeep of my horse, or the price of my insatiable appetite for turkey legs.  My time with the town guard is well-spent and honorable, but never a true test of my skills. Chasing pick pockets and alchemists distributing potions without a license, though important, does not present the same challenge as giant slaying.

Tracking down wizards through harsh and unforgiving lands, that’s the sort of adventure I can get behind.  When we arrived to find the missing wizard, the land had turned to acid and seemed to be rotting away. We sought refuge in an old elvish tomb.

I’m not very good at thinking, but perhaps I thought there might be a passageway under this tomb to the wizard’s tower.  It would certainly make traversing the dangerous land a lot easier. It turned out to be just a regular tomb and it had been a long time since the last burial.

Every adventure must come equipped with a fool, it seems.  This party was no different. The cat-wizard creature blasted the tomb of the elvish king and queen, likely hoping to rob them of whatever they had been buried with.  Dishonorable to the core. The dead king and queen were clearly disturbed by this and attacked us. I tried to talk them down, as did others, but the queen was quite upset with us for disturbing their rest.  (I did like the king’s jokes though, quite funny! He must have been a wise and benevolent ruler in life.)

…

I was turned into a rabbit by the king’s undead magics.  What. The. Fuck.

At the end of the battle, the cat-wizard Julian got right to the looting.  Such an act deserves far worse punishment than I could give out. Proving my point: the other wizard, Skyrah, took a chain shirt from the tomb and put it on.  Turns out the armor was cursed and caused her to go mad, beating her own face until it was bloody. Curses on both of them.

Back outside, the land turned from acid to fire and while we were trying to make our way across a boiling lake, it seemed gravity had been turned off and we all began to float away!  I became more and more convinced this wizard was up to something evil.

When we arrived at the tower, we found the wizard’s servants stuck in some sort of time bubble.  We spent some time trying to help them, but realized we wouldn’t be able to do anything until the wizard was dealt with.

We were met by some foul beasts on our way to find the wizard, but they were easily dispatched.  The best part was when a unicorn appeared out of fucking nowhere and just started stabbing the cat-wizard with its horn.  Given the chance to help Julian, I chose instead to continue slaying the monsters. He has made his tiny, evil bed.

Finally, at the top of the tower, we found the wizard and the source of all the calamity.  The wizard, it turned out, was not evil. (Can’t be right all the time I suppose.) Rather, her apprentice had become possessed by a demon and she was trying to contain it.  The wizard cast us into some sort of dreamland in order to find and defeat the demon.

Something strange did happen in this land of dreams.  My father appeared. His skin was a sickly pallor and he was shriveled and hunched over, nothing like the large, imposing man he is in life.  I feared that he was dead. In this undeath, he was all that I fear in life--his rage and disappointment. While I love my father and would never want to see harm come to him, his death is not the thing that I fear.  It is what comes after. The duty that I must adhere to, the tasks that only I, as his eldest son, could take on.

When I left, he accused me of a juvenile dalliance, this journey to find meaning beyond our kingdom.  He accused me of cowardice, to run away from a problem that for him, was no problem at all. I was too old, too accomplished, for either of these things.  Would he even want me to return? To take his place?

So distraught over this image, I failed to block too many blows.  I fell to the ground, my life’s blood leaking out onto the grass, and the image of my father faded.  Never have I felt such disappointment in myself. That day, the line of Borsk had been broken.

Well, maybe not.  The demon was defeated and we all woke up back in the wizard’s sanctum.  The apprentice was no longer possessed. Day saved.

And I got a new shield!

Perhaps I should send a letter home and inquire after my father’s health.  Maybe tomorrow.


	3. Forest of Golden Sparkles

**[Borsk’s official report]**

•Find the flowers [✓]

•Pick the flowers [✓]

•Return flowers to town [✓]

* * *

 

**[Borsk’s private journal entry]**

Finding Alchemical Ingredients (or Forest of Golden ~~Showers~~ Sparkles)

I’ve found that if you sit in the tavern long enough, eventually an offer will come along that pays well enough and promises challenge and danger.  This time, however, I did not expect to see a man returned from the dead. It was the boy, Ven, whom I had seen slain by the undead demons at the monastery, approached me for this next task.  I was quite surprised to see him, and nearly drew my sword to strike him down.

He told me of how fair Valis had traveled to his village to return his body to his family and such a rare ritual did she perform that restored his spirit.  Ah, Valis the Pure, Valis the Beautiful, only she could achieve such an act.

I was not sure such a task of going flower picking needed my axe, but I was told of a beautiful flower that grew in a pool of moonlight.  Such a flower would make an exquisite gift for dear Valis. It sounded simple enough, find flowers and pick them. Ven also provided a guide-gnome. He was kind of an odd one.  Kept insisting he was a gnome. Not sure why he would need to do that when he was clearly gnome-shaped.

The gnome took us into the forest, though it seemed he had a tough time navigating the brush for someone native to this area.  He took us to see the pixies and called them his “children.” I started to suspect that he may have been lying when he said he was a gnome.  Not sure what else he could be. Apparently, his “children” were having problems with their “neighbors” and “playing too rough.” I don’t understand why they can’t just come out with it already.  We told them we were there to help!

Even without the pixie or the gnome’s forthrightness, we set out further into the forest.  We were attacked by some dryads. Surely, these were the foul neighbors that had been terrorizing the pixies.  The pixies claimed they were “playing rough,” but I think they meant to kill us.

Ah!  And then I spied the beautiful flower!  Though its beauty pales in comparison to the woman I shall give it to.  As we reached for the flower, to pluck it from it’s pool, we were set upon by fierce water elementals.  Of course such a prize would have guardians.

Our enemies were dispatched as all others have been before and I claimed the prize.  There were other prizes for us as well, but I have the one that matters most.

Oh, turns out the gnome was really a dragon.


	4. Supplies Needed

**[Borsk’s official report]**

Supplies delivered.

* * *

 

**[Borsk’s private journal entry]**

Delivery to Master Uris (or Days of Elfs Past)

It seemed the wizard Uris was in need of assistance again.  (The one who’s apprentice was possessed by a demon which we slew most readily.)  As we have had dealings in the past, and I wished to see if she had managed to get her assistants out of the time warp bubble, I took the job posting.  In the common tavern with its usual patrons, I spotted fair Valis sitting with her friend. I wondered if she would like to join on such a mundane task.  From the strange comments her friend gave me and the sly grins she gave Valis, it appeared I had been the subject of some conversation. I hope it was good things and not how I let the vile creatures infesting the monastery root me in place.

Valis agreed to join me!  And it took very little convincing, she almost seemed eager.  Well, that’s nice.

Julian, the cat-wizard creature, also went.  Along with his company of cat slaves companions.  I held onto Master Uris’ bag of holding.  Who knew what sort of magical supplies were inside and I don’t trust Julian.

When we exited the portal, we found ourselves in a strange town.  Usually, there’s a portal on the other side so that we may return home, but this time, there was not.  We wondered if we would have to secure other means to get home. There was a magic pulse, similar to the one that erupted from Master Uris’ tower when her apprentice was possessed.  However, this time the ground did not erupt into fire or acid or any other such calamity. The elves of this town did not seem to notice the magic pulse.

And that was the thing…. There were only elves in this town.  And none spoke common, only elvish. There were more elves than I had ever seen in my life.  Even Valis, who is an elf, remarked on the large population.

As we walked through the town and Valis spoke to the locals trying to get a sense of where we were, a strange thought came into my head.  I could not remember exactly the names on the tombs of the king and queen whose ghosts we fought before, but the stories that were written about them reminded me of this place.  We were in the land of King Almer, a great elven kingdom that has seen remarkable peace. A people who didn’t speak common, who looked at Julian and I strangely as if they had never seen a human or a cat that could speak before.  (The cat thing I get, to be fair.)

What if… what if we’d gone back to the time of this kingdom?  We arrived to the realm we had intended, but more than a thousand years into the past.  Before the building of the inter-realm gateways, before humans had thrown themselves over all of creation, before the decimation of this great kingdom.

I told Julian he had better not pull out that cursed sword that he looted from the tomb.  We were told of an attempt made on the king’s life recently, and walking around with his sword would certainly make us suspects.  We already stood out terribly.

We learned some things about this kingdom that we didn’t know before.  They didn’t like necromancy, devil or demon worship, or dragon worship.  I quite liked these elves, I think. Though I wondered what befell them that caused the ghosts of their king and queen to linger on in their tombs for so long.  There was also a ceremony to be had in the afternoon to honor a revolution of some sorts. The king was supposed to be there. We thought that perhaps we could present the sword to him and explain our tale and get some assistance.

First, we went to their wizard school to try and find out more information and perhaps find some help.  That turned out to be a bad plan. Of course, the wizard there did not believe our outlandish story. Julian, the idiot, in an effort to be intimidating, used one of his warlock spells.  Now they hate us _and_ they tried to kill us.

As if this adventure hadn’t already gone incalculably wrong, Julian had another trick up his fur.  He summoned a great, metal griffon to be our escape. We climbed on and crashed through the wall and soared into the air.

Despite that we had ruined any chance of finding assistance from these elves, I have to say I rather enjoyed the griffon ride.  Soaring through the air, fair Valis sitting behind me with her arms clutched around me. Damned all this blasted armor. The momentary enjoyment was short-lived as we crashed again, this time through the balcony where the king was preparing to make his speech.  We tried to convince him, but as we had killed two of his guards when the griffon crashed through the wall, he wasn’t exactly willing to listen to us.

At least we only got arrested and not executed on the spot.

While we were in the prison cell, the king was killed along with the queen.  So that was the day that it all happened. We were released by a young squire that we had met when we first arrived.  I decided he needed to stay a fair distance away from Valis. Such a boy could not possibly understand the sort of care and respect a woman like Valis deserves.  A boy like that would bask in her beauty and offer nothing in return.

We discovered that the king had been stabbed.  A single dagger through the chest. The queen, whom upon our last encounter had been quite aggressive towards us, appeared to have put up a fierce fight.  Her arms were covered in wounds as if she had defended herself against many dagger strikes. Her body and clothes were singed with magic. We began to suspect that perhaps their son, if not involved, at least knew something.

We went to the prince’s room and discovered it abandoned.  A recently used teleportation was hidden in there. Again on the griffon, we followed the magical energy to the bell tower.  It was a strange sight. It looked like the room that Master Uris’ assistants were trapped in, with the same sort of magic flowing through it.  The prince was there along with a pale-looking companion. His companion had cuts all over her body--evidence of her fight with the queen.

This creature, a vampire we discovered, marked Valis as the only one who could truly hurt her with her radiant magic.  She went after Valis in a frenzy. I did my best to protect her, and even Julian was quite useful with his foul magics.  The prince, we decided, was not nearly as dangerous as the vampire and focused all of our efforts on her. Even the metal griffon got into the fight.  I landed what should have been the killing blow, a vengeance for her assault on Valis, but the coward disappeared into a mist and escaped.

The prince also proved himself a coward and jumped out of the window.  He had some sort of magical item that allowed him to fly, but Valis… oh beautiful, intelligent, wondrous Valis.  She used her magic to dispel the magic of the prince’s flying and he dropped like a stone, falling towards the ground.  Our griffon managed to catch him, but not before he took significant trauma.

There was still the large task of returning to our own time to overcome.  We could see Master Uris through the shards of magic in the time bubble, but it seemed only we could see it.  To the elves of this land, they saw only their bell tower. After resting, Valis figured out how to contact Master Uris.  Through careful manipulation of magic and word choice, Uris explained how to get home. It took some convincing of the town guard, but we retrieved what was our anchor to this world--the dagger that had killed their king.

As we were preparing to leave, I insisted to Valis that I go through last.  I had to make sure she reached the other side safely. Just before I pushed her up the ladder to go through the portal, the young squire who, I admit, had been a help, appeared.  He asked to go through the portal with us, to travel to the future. Valis seemed keen on the idea. I was quick to register the obvious problems with this plan, that the boy likely had a destiny here and we’d be screwing up the future more than we already had by being here.  Valis probably could have convinced me to let him come with us, as I would do near anything for her, but the boy let something slip that I couldn’t quite shake off. Even now, I think that he might be some sort of dragon worshiper. It was not just my jealousy that he had gotten Valis’ favor, but I did think that there was something shifty about this boy.  I finished pushing Valis up the ladder and through the portal, making sure the boy knew that he could not follow us.

Upon returning to the right time and now in the right place, we took a few days to stay with Master Uris.  Whatever strange magic had trapped us in the past was also connected to her assistants being stuck in their own time bubble.  Everything seemed to sort itself back out once we came through the portal. Master Uris thanked us for bringing her supplies and told us stories of the kingdom of King Almer.  It seemed a Dragon Knight that had once been a knight of that realm had risen up against the kingdom and that was what had led to its downfall. While I don’t believe it’s possible for this person to still be alive, Uris insists that is the rumor.  Valis and I have vowed to bring him to justice should we find him.

Valis and I went down into the elven tombs in order to pay our respects to the fallen king and queen.  And I wished to return the sword back to its rightful place. Julian insisted we not bring the sword back, even though he couldn’t even wield it.  I’ll just give him my share of the gold later. The sword belongs back with its king.

The ghost of the king rose again, only this time he only told us his wonderful jokes instead of turning me into a rabbit.  We talked about what had transpired and how sorry we were that we couldn’t stop it. I asked him if he wanted the sword returned and instead something truly remarkable happened.

I trained near everyday from boyhood.  I was squire to Sir Hamelin for three years.  My knighthood was a guarantee. I would take my place next to my father in the king’s army and achieve great victory for our realm.  It was my birthright, but I never felt as if I had earned it. I was following the path that had always been laid out for me and inheriting greatness.

The ghost of King Almer asked me to kneel before him and I did so without hesitation.  He made me a knight of his kingdom and I do not think I have ever been so proud and humbled at the same time.  He bestowed upon me the sword he had been buried with, the one that we had stolen under my strong objections. It was a family heirloom of his kingdom and a sword that had killed many dragons.  Such a weapon bears an apt name: Dragon’s Bane. And now, it is mine. I promised that I would slay many dragons with it, in his name.

Upon exiting the tomb, I knelt before Julian and offered him my apologies.  I had been quite hard on him during our journey, but it was his griffon and quick thinking that had helped us to survive.  I couldn’t promise to not get angry at him in the future, as the way we view the world is still quite different, but I let go of my anger and dislike of him.

And I gave Valis the flower plucked from moonlight, and my heart.


End file.
